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Comment Re:iOS/Android smartphones/tablets are not applian (Score 1) 439

by LittleLui (#38558184) Attached to: Doctorow: the Coming War On General-Purpose Computing

My *Kindle* has 64 times the RAM and 40000 times the mass storage capacity of my first general purpose computer. Not to mention a faster CPU and a way better operating system. Yes, it's not as awesome as a current rig, but it's definitely general-purpose.

iOS/Android smartphones/tablets are not appliances.

Just to clarify, Kindles in general (exception: Kindle Fire) are not smartphones and not tablets and run neither iOS nor Android. They are very much designed and marketed only for reading books. Still, inside they are very much general purpose computers.

Comment Re:Alarmism (Score 1) 439

by LittleLui (#38543428) Attached to: Doctorow: the Coming War On General-Purpose Computing

Doctorow argues that an appliance computer isn't a specialized computing device but a general-purpose computer running "spyware." This is a highly politicized perspective to take.

And easily disproven. Appliance computers will usually not have the RAM, GPU, permanent storage, etc that a general purpose computer will have. Unless of course the definition of general purpose is bringing up a terminal app.

My *Kindle* has 64 times the RAM and 40000 times the mass storage capacity of my first general purpose computer. Not to mention a faster CPU and a way better operating system. Yes, it's not as awesome as a current rig, but it's definitely general-purpose.

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